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BOSTON — Mitt Romney voted near his Belmont home Tuesday morning before heading to Ohio and Pennsylvania for last-minute appearances to court voters as they head to the polls in those battleground states.
Romney said he feels “very, very good” about his prospects against President Obama, and when asked by reporters whom he voted for, he said, "I think you know."
Romney, wearing a dark suit, and his wife Ann, wearing a long sapphire jacket, arrived at the Beech Street Center at 8:41 a.m. and were greeted by a large crowd of cheering supporters and pro-Obama demonstrators.
The couple cast their ballots, and as they exited the community center, Romney kissed Ann and hugged his son Tagg, Tagg’s wife Jennifer and their son. As he prepared to head to the airport to fly to Cleveland for the first stop of the day, Romney said, “I feel great about Ohio.”
While the candidate was a man of few words Tuesday morning, his advisors were not. Senior advisor Ed Gillespie said on Fox News, “He's going to win tonight, not just win, but win decisively. I don't think there’s going to be any doubt at the end of tonight who the next president is going to be.”
The race in Ohio is tight, with Obama holding a razor-edge lead in recent polling and both candidates contesting it fiercely. Pennsylvania has long been considered likely to remain in Obama’s column, and Romney largely ignored it in recent weeks before paying attention to it in the closing days of the campaign.
Democrats have suggested that the last-minute trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh were signs of desperation. Shortly before Romney’s campaign plane departed for Ohio, strategist Stuart Stevens said Romney was merely doing what any candidate would do.
INTERACTIVE: Battleground states map
"I never thought that going out and talking to voters and working was anything but what we are supposed to do," he said.
“We are going to win Ohio,” he predicted. “We always close strong.”
Romney was accompanied on the trip to visit get-out-the-vote operations by Stevens, advisors Ron Kaufman and Bob White, son Tagg and grandson Joe.
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